A Methodist Bible faculty within the U.Ok. fired a Christian theologian and threatened to report him as a terrorist due to his tweets in opposition to homosexuality, his attorneys claimed.
Dr. Aaron Edwards, who taught theology at Cliff School in Derbyshire, England, was dismissed from the varsity after being accused of “bringing the school into disrepute” on social media final month.
“Homosexuality is invading the church,” Edwards tweeted on Feb. 19. “Evangelicals not see the severity of this [because] they’re busy apologizing for his or her apparently barbaric homophobia, whether or not or not it is true.
“This *is* a ‘Gospel problem,’ by the way in which. If sin is not sin, we not want a Savior,” Edwards added.
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Edwards’ tweet went viral and prompted blowback, to which Edwards responded: “That *is* the conservative view. The acceptance of homosexuality as ‘not sinful’ *is* an invasion upon the Church, doctrinally. This isn’t controversial. The acceptance is controversial. Many of the world Church would agree. It isn’t homophobic to declare homosexuality sinful.”
“I expressed the conservative view as a doctrinal problem, re. the implications for sin/the Gospel. It was not an assault on people, it was addressed to evangelicals. Plainly holding the view that homosexuality is sinful is barely welcome if it stays ‘unexpressed,'” he added.
Dr. Aaron Edwards, who taught theology at Cliff School in Derbyshire, England, was dismissed from the varsity after being accused of “bringing the school into disrepute” on social media in opposition to homosexuality. (Christian Concern)
Edwards’ tweets reportedly prompted “misery” amongst members of the Methodist Church in Britain, with one senior workers member saying they “may very well be extraordinarily damaging” and “influence the school’s core work” and “marketing strategy,” in accordance with Edwards’ authorized counsel on the London-based Christian Authorized Centre.
Edwards was suspended from the varsity pending an investigation and the school revealed throughout a disciplinary listening to on March 8 that it was contemplating referring him to Stop, which polices allegations of terrorism within the U.Ok.
Edwards was reportedly requested throughout the listening to what he would do if he have been requested to hope with a pupil about their same-sex attraction, which he believes was an try to entice him into affirming “conversion remedy,” which the U.Ok. Parliament has debated criminalizing.
“The response to my tweet and the unjust therapy I’ve skilled by Cliff School and the Methodist Church in Britain fully illustrates the issue my tweet addressed,” Edwards mentioned in an announcement supplied to Fox Information Digital.
Cliff School in Derbyshire, England, allegedly fired Dr. Aaron Edwards and threatened to report him as a terrorist due to his tweets in opposition to homosexuality. (Google Maps)
“The tweet was not defamatory; it was not an assault on any colleague or particular person; it was not abusive; and it was not an extremist spiritual view. It was addressed to evangelicals as some extent of doctrine, and it has been misunderstood by many who want to trigger private and institutional hassle for many who specific that view,” he continued.
Edwards added that conventional Christian beliefs about sexuality are being “silenced and stamped out” within the Methodist Church.
Edwards’ case comes amid a worldwide rift amongst Methodists over the difficulty of homosexuality and homosexual clergy, which has led to many congregations within the U.S. leaving the mainline denomination. (AP Photograph / Sid Hastings / File)
With the help of the Christian Authorized Centre, Edwards is weighing his authorized choices in opposition to Cliff School for potential discrimination underneath the Equality Act 2010. He’s claiming that the disciplinary process lacked “requisite equity” and that the investigation was prejudiced and stuffed with an “astonishing” imbalance, exaggeration and misrepresentation.
Cliff School didn’t reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark by time of publication.
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Edwards’ case comes amid a rising rift amongst Methodists globally over the difficulty of same-sex marriage and gender. The United Methodist Church within the U.S. has been hemorrhaging congregations lately, with lots of them becoming a member of the brand new conservative World Methodist Church.